Researcher Cornelia Baciu publishes new article in European Journal of International Security
CMS-researcher Cornelia Baciu and Professor Anders Wivel have published a new article in European Journal of International Security with the title “Junior allies in wars of choice: Party politics and role conceptions in Danish and Romanian decisions on the Iraq War”.
The article reflects on when and how party politics matter in junior allies’ decisions to engage in multinational military operations. By developing a new role theory model of party politics and multinational military operations, the authors put forward a two-level argument. First, they argue that the rationale for military action is defined in a contest between political parties with expectations of what constitutes the proper purpose and functions of the state. Second, they hold that material and ontological insecurities reduce political space for contestation and debate, but that junior allies tend to focus on role demands for ‘good states’ and ‘good allies’ rather than the nature and aim of the military operation. To unpack this argument, they analyse the debate among political parties in Romania and Denmark leading up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003.